Dog People- I need an objective opinion

jasmineh7777

I am stressing out about this, and I can't talk to FI for another couple of hours.
One of my dogs has epliepsy. She hasn't had a seizure in 2 months before today. Her seizure today was very minor, compared to the ones she has had in the past. I went to the vet anyway. So, I have two options.
1. Raise the level of one of her medications or
2. Leave the levels the same, and supplement with valium, and hope it was just a fluke

Here is the catch- the more I raise her daily medication, the more side effects she will have. And, the medication is known to shorten the lifespan of animals that are on it long term. Rather than living to say 12, it could cut her down to 7. It also can cause her to be listless, and sometimes totally terrified of us.
If we don't raise it, we risk her having more frequent and more severe seizures.
I don't know what the best option is.  If this was your dog, what would you do?

AmoroAgain

Wait.  See if she has more seizures.

goheels05

I'm sorry Jasmine. 

If I were you, I would keep the dosage the same and supplement with valium. 

laurenclaire1386

I'm sorry to hear that about your dog I'd probably go with the second option.

MissLeahM

So sorry!

I would leave it the same, if there continues to be a problem then I would up it.

Good luck!

samurai21

Could you supplement with valium and then if the seizures do become more frequent up the medication?

ac_in_dc

PPs are right. Try to keep the dosage lower 'til you absolutely have to raise it.

I'm sorry you're going through this...good luck!

britne28

I would go with option 2.  She went 2 months between seizures so I would try to see how she does before upping her meds.  Poor little pooch.  It is so hard when they are sick because they don't understand.  The valium might help her.  I hope she is ok.

sweetie89

I agree, I would keep it the same and see how things go. Maybe she was just stressed or a fluke thing triggered the seizure.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Well, I've mentioned my mom's dog also has epilepsy. She raised the medication. At one point they switched to something else and were going to decrease her main medication, but the new one made her throw up. So there's only so much she can do. (I think the new one was potassium bromide.)

But if this is a minor seizure, I think you should just monitor her for a while.

What kind of side effects does she have? As far as we can tell, the only one my mom's dog has is that it makes her ravenously hungry. She's a beagle, but she was really good around food before the medication. She now tried to jump up on tables and counter to get to food. I know it can cause liver damage, too, though.

L-Bride

I'm so sorry about your pup

I would supplement with valium for the time being. That's tough...

jasmineh7777

I really don't want to raise it; it is a really harsh medication. Today was so mild, but when it was harsh, she almost died. Ugh. I hate just waiting, but it is probably easier on her body.
Thanks ladies. I have been dwelling on this all morning, so I needed some rational responses.

ExpatPumpkin

I'd choose option #2, but seek an alternative to Valium, if possible.  Perhaps an herbal/holistic medicine that will calm your dog? 

A vet prescribed Valium for Oscar the first time he flew, and he turned into a crazy little demon/monster   I could tell that it really affected his brain chemistry.  But your experience may be completely positive, of course.

Sorry that you're dealing with this

jasmineh7777

The medication makes her uncoordinated and scared.When she was on a high dosage, she couldn't walk straight and lost control of her bowels. It can damage the liver. We have weaned her down to the smallest dosage possible, but it may not be enough at this point. On her current dose, she has absolutely no side effects.

A major siezure will make her go temporarily blind, up to an hour or so. It can also trigger cluster seizures which can raise her body temperature, cause brain damage, and potentially kill her.

kikibaby

As most PP's, I would keep dosage the same and supplement with the Valium.  Also, wait and see how she does.  Don't raise the dosage until you really need to.

Sorry you guys have to deal with this

jasmineh7777

Expat- the valium works well for us; she just sleeps. But, the more we use it the less effective it becomes.
ETA: She takes milk thistle and doggie vitamins every day. We also make her special food. Our natural medicine has really helped her get better, too.
Thank you for the support ladies. I really appreciate it.

ExpatPumpkin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_dog-people-need-objective-opinion?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:9487ce71-6d96-4aea-af9d-f0bcbe4c1504Post:1eb4d8c3-bd67-4826-aeff-2aa7b6babdd3">Re: Dog People- I need an objective opinion</a>:
[QUOTE]Expat- the valium works well for us; she just sleeps. But, the more we use it the less effective it becomes. Thank you for the support ladies. I really appreciate it.
Posted by jasmineh7777[/QUOTE]

Okay, glad it works for her...  The sleeping should be comforting to the both of you.  And again, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this.  I would be crushed :(  I hope she gets better soon.

jasmineh7777

Thanks Expat. We've been dealing with this since a few weeks after we adopted her. We just got spoiled that last two months. Guess she's just keeping us on our toes.

tidetravel

Personally, it sounds like you've tried option one and it didn't work.  I would try option 2, and just try to make her as comfortable as possible.  If her epilepsy progresses beyond what can be treated with the smaller dosage, you may have to weigh quality vs. quantity of life.  If the higher dose increases her life span, but makes her miserable, that's no way to live.

I'm sorry and I hope that you find an option that works for you.

missy68

I had to give Maggie Valium injections when she started having seizures towards the end. They do end the seizures fairly quickly, at least that was my experience. Her past seizures were usually mild, but these were different (she'd gone years without one, so we'd weaned her off the medication with the vet) and apparently for a different reason.

jasmineh7777

Tide- we had to seriously consider that last fall. If we get to the point that she has to be highly medicated, all of the time, then we may have to have her put down. I hate to even think about it, but we can't make her live in pain and completely scared all of the time.  It's pathetic, because she isn't even 2, still just a puppy really.

Missy- We haven't had to use the liquid valium yet. Good to know that it works well, though. Watching her seize is pretty much the worst thing I've ever seen, as I'm sure you understand.

katiewhompus

I think you are doing that already by not immediately jumping on the vets suggestion to up the dosage without considering all of the daily things.

gailpete

My dog had epilepsy and was on phenobarbital to control them.  Fortunately his wasn't severe, but the pheno did control them without any side effects.  He lived for seven years without any additional seizures.  When we had to put him down he was almost 14 and it was due to heart problems.

Are there any vet schools in Montana.  We are fortunate to be in East Lansing, MI with an excellent vet school at Michigan State University, so there are lots of experts.  If you can't find one near you, you may be able to call Michigan State vet clinic and give them the details and get some advice from them.  Just a thought.

I understand what you are feeling and wish you and your puppy the best.

jasmineh7777

Thank you gail. That is really helpful. I'm going to see if I can find their website and e-mail address.

gailpete

Here is the site for Michigan State

http://cvm.msu.edu/hospital


Good luck.

michaela48

My dog has epilepsy as well. He went from having a seizure very rarely, to increasing frequency. We did not want to medicate him because we heard of the bad side effects of some of the medications. Our dogs seizures got progressively worse, where he would seize for hours, until valium was injected in his blood.  But he also continued to have minor seizures in-between these major seizures. The vet then advised us to medicate him. He explained that if the dog had one of these major seizures when we were not around, he could die since his body temperature would be very high.

We put our dog on Phenobarbital. He has been on it for 8 months now and we have been very happy. The first few weeks he was tired and a little disoriented but the doctor explained that once the medicine stabilized in his blood this symptoms would stop, and they did. What medicine is your dog on? If one medicine is not working for him your doctor should look into proscribing something else. Our doctor we saw said there were several different options for dogs and then you just have to test them out till you find out which one works. I would suggest looking at another medicine option, not keeping the dog at a low dosage that isnt completely working..

Shawnee11507

My dog takes valium for thunder storms/fire works. It makes him seem drunk and have the serious munchies. If he had to take it everyday he would be seriously overweight. 

He had a couple seizures. He hasn't had one in a long time. The vet said if he has more than one in 2-3 months I should put him on seizure meds b/c the seizures can cause brain damage. 

If it were my dog, I'd watch him the next 2-3 months. If he had another seizure, I'd up the seizure meds or try different seizure meds.

nefariousmango

I don't know a lot about epilepsy, especially in dogs, but based on my knowledge of other drugs I would say that you can probably raise her meds a bit without having to worry about shortening her lifespan.  Most medications like this will have a "window" where they are effective without being harmful (ex. body can handle a certain dose before liver damage becomes a problem).  You may consider raising it very slowly and observing her for a while to find the lowest dose that is still effective.  Maybe your vet has some suggestions?

thesuninherhead

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_dog-people-need-objective-opinion?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:9487ce71-6d96-4aea-af9d-f0bcbe4c1504Post:2de1a5ac-69cc-428d-a1a0-4f56a183dd51">Re: Dog People- I need an objective opinion</a>:
[QUOTE]Sun, does your cat have herpesvirus in his eye? Because this sounds a lot like my cat. Yeah. Eye herpes. He gets flare ups and we have him on a once-a-week steroid, once a day drops, every-other day ointment, and twice-a-day lysene treatment. And the cat ophthalmologist isn't cheap!
<p>Posted by msmerymac[/QUOTE]</p><p> </p><p>Late to reply, sorry, but hopefully you'll see this- no, he doesn't. Essentially, his symptoms don't match herpes (in that the type of inflammation he experiences in the eye is different to that in herpes, and he has no other symptoms like runny eyes or nose common to herpes), and his swab tests were negative for herpes (and a bunch of other things). His eye problem is essentially of unknown origin, although it is possible that dry FIP (aka. nasty, fatal virus) may be responsible. That said, having him on the pred has for the most part halted the disease process, so we're hopeful that whatever it is, we can manage it in a way that keeps him in good health for as long as possible. </p><p> </p><p>Indeed- cat ophthalmologist is not cheap at all! Hope your little one is doing ok! </p>